Is it okay to kiss your dog?
Many pet owners kiss their dogs and cats, and one can only hope they've brushed their teeth afterward! But all joking aside, cuddling and snuggling with animals can, in certain cases, not only be unhygienic but also dangerous. Find out here whether you can kiss your dog.
Cuddling is, of course, allowed with well-groomed and healthy four-legged friends.
Humans themselves are carriers of countless germs and fungi, and spread millions of invisible, dead skin flakes into their environment every day, which serve as food for house dust mites, just like your pet.
Beware of parasites and diseases.
However, we should carefully consider whether we want to let a dog or a cat sleep in our bed at night. Allow it. If our four-legged friends bring home ticks or fleas during their daily forays through the bushes, it can be unpleasant and also have health consequences. Fleas can transmit tapeworms, ticks, Lyme disease, and tick-borne encephalitis. Therefore, you should check your dog or cat. Protect yourself accordingly.
Particularly unpleasant and potentially dangerous are ticks that, engorged with blood, fall from the animal's fur indoors, digest their meal in a crevice, and then seek a new host when hungry, which can also be a human. Of course, this problem rarely arises with cats that live exclusively indoors. However, ticks can also be a problem when animals are ill, for example, with gastrointestinal illness or a respiratory infection. If suffering, one should reconsider whether humans and animals should share a common sleeping place.
May I kiss my dog?
The mere thought of a dog having just been intensely sniffing another dog's feces during a walk should really put you off. Furthermore, kissing your dog can transmit bacteria. A professor at a German university specifically warned that kissing a dog can also transmit Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen frequently diagnosed in cases of stomach ulcers. And, of course, a pet owner infected with this bacterium can also infect their dog or cat.
Contact with animals trains the immune system.
"Dirt makes you fat," goes an old farmer's saying, meaning that you stay "round and healthy" because your immune system functions well. Farm children, or even children of veterinarians, often don't live in particularly germ-free and absolutely clean environments. Some play in the barn, share their bread with the farm dog and chickens, while others prefer to spend time in the veterinary office and enjoy helping to care for sick animals. Of course, these children are also washed regularly and don't live in filth, but they simply have more contact with a wide variety of germs.
Publication by the British Pet Health Council
According to a publication by the British Pet Health Council, animals even help to reduce the risk of allergies. Cuddling and snuggling with furry friends trains children's immune systems and helps prevent allergies to pollen, house dust mites, and pet dander in adulthood. A recently published study at a German university also found that children who have regular contact with animals develop far fewer allergic respiratory diseases than their peers who grew up in clean, hygienic environments.